This was actually written 3 years ago, i guess we never quite got it right so let's recycle this like Hollywood recycles movies... Why re-write something that fits the bill...
Though we have been around for over 2 (5) years now, we have always quite struggled with our "journal" section. The journal was meant to be a blog of some sort, something that provided real insight behind the brand and the people who run it and support it (you) - less of a subtle marketing platform and more something genuine which posts content we find interesting as well as insight into the crazies that operate Archibald.
That vision was never quite realised and the blog began life with posts such as "must haves" from other brands (an amateur attempt at having them share our posts) and examples of press clippings from outlets no one really reads. The intial idea was to create posts just for the sake of it, and because we didn't a) like and b) care about the things we were posting, it became a down right boring mess.
Things evolved and we got a little more sophisticated, we scrapped the blog and began using tumblr as a means of writing short posts that would essentially be our version of "content creation". Needless to say the idea of the "journal" became very depressing, so much so that when the new platform was being designed, I was inclined to have the entire thing scrapped. However that would be giving up, and unfortunately for many opticians (THROWBACK to when it was just eyewear!) and brands out there, we do our best to not accept that as a solution.
Yesterday, my closest colleague brought it up once more (this actually happened again 3 years later!) - "what do we do with the f**cking journal?". It was time I stepped up, accepted the responsibility and here I am writing my first post about what the journal will no longer be. It seems a fitting first post for those of you who have tracked our progress as a brand and also a nice launch pad for those of you who are engaging with the brand for the first time.
This will NOT be a section of disjointed posts about what is "style", "design" and "must haves" from the latest brand to go viral. This WILL be a genuine journal which we will use to communicate with you and provide a greater insight into who we are, what we like and the things we are up to. It will be an account of what is going on, how, what and why we are developing the project and the different challenges we face in trying to establish our ambitious concept.
It was what I needed to do from the very first day we started this journey and now, 2 (5) years in, it is a challenge I accept as we look to shift gears to the next level. Things are starting to get exciting and we have you to thank for it. I only hope that in the event this space becomes boring, trite and just another brand trying to flog it's goods, whoever takes the time to read this sends me a message and requests I wake up, remain genuine and maintain what I have pledged to do here.
Yours sincerely,
Rohan Dhir
